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Defender
Reviews Summary C+VG Issue 9 The humanoid slave trade is enjoying a boom year in the Galaxy but you have been detailed to prevent alien races making off with too many of your planet's populace. Atari has made a point of buying up the licences to copy successful arcade games and it will surely pay-off with the popular Defender game. When the alien race detects a human on the planet's surface, it sends in its Landers to carry them off. These are equipped with specially sensitive grabbing mechanisms which can lift the poor unfortunates off the surface. You can defend the poorly equipped humans by racing your spacecraft over the country blasting aliens with your high-powered laser cannons. It is a question of racing as Landers can come down off screen and pick up humans while you are occupied elsewhere. If a Lander has a human in its delicate grip, it holds the hostage beneath itself as it heads for the top of the screen. This leaves it open for you to fire at the Lander and make it drop its prize. If it's not too far from the ground the human will land safely, otherwise you may have to rush to his aid and help him survive the drop. The alien force is a strong one — including Pods which house the hordes of swarmers. When you score a hit on a Pod, it will release a multitude of small swarmers which live up to their name and chase after you. Bombers too wander across the landscape close to the surface leaving their deadly trail of death. And when the Landers reach the top of the screen with a humanoid in their grasp, they are transformed into the far-more dangerous mutant craft. There are 20 different versions of Defender on this Atari VCS cartridge. It features some creative graphics and appropriate sound effects. It will be available from mid-July and will sell for around £29.95. C+VG Issue 10 Defender was the dedicated arcade player's game when the novelty of space invaders wore off and Asteroids had been conquered. Both space invaders and asteroids converted well to the Atari T.V. Games Centre screen, although both lost some of the challenge of the arcade original. Defender is the new game to make the transition with Atari continuing its successful policy of buying up the licence to produce the arcade money-spinners under their correct title. Graphically, Defender is not as impressive as the original but it does capture a good deal more of the playability. The controls are much more approachable with only a joystick and one fire button, compared to the rank of buttons on the arcade machine. The planet surface is replaced with a city skyline, behind which your craft can disconcertingly sink, making it difficult to judge your position on the screen. The radar screen is still there, as are all the adversaries you will remember from the arcade, although they do look very different. The humanoids are still to be found on the surface of the world and must be returned there if the aliens' landers capture them. And the ultimate weapon is still your smart bomb, which destroys every alien creature on the screen. The attacks still come in waves and every attempt has been made to copy the original as closely as possible. What makes it more challenging than space invaders and asteroids is sheer difficulty. The aliens are very accurate with their bombs and quick to home in on you. They also rush in at you from off-screen positions making it hard to line up your craft. Atari should have another winner on their hands at £29.95. Features Category:Arcade Games Category:Atari 2600 Games Category:Williams Category:Atari Category:C+VG Reviews